Field
This disclosure relates generally to semiconductor processing and, more particularly, to passivation of semiconductor substrates, including passivation of channel regions of transistors.
Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor materials that exhibit high charge-carrier mobility have gained interest as possible materials for use in various electronic devices, such as transistors in integrated circuits. High charge-carrier mobility materials have a higher charge-carrier mobility than silicon, and may improve the performance of these electronic devices, relative to forming the devices using silicon as the only semiconductor. Examples of high charge-carrier mobility semiconductor materials include silicon germanium, germanium and group III-V semiconductor materials, such as GaAs, InP, InGaAs, InAs, and GaSb.
The passivation of semiconductor materials can improve the electrical properties of devices formed with these materials, and may also improve the physical properties and physical stability of those materials, which can provide benefits for device reliability. For example, passivating the surface of a transistor channel region before forming a gate dielectric can improve the performance of the resulting transistor. However, the passivation of high mobility semiconductors faces various challenges and work continues on developing suitable passivation techniques for these materials.